Ch ch changes...

Dec 17, 2021
4 min read

“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”

― Leo Tolstoy

Well, our recent and upcoming changes are not exactly what I would call "tiny", but before getting to that, let me apologize once again for the lack of activity on our blog for the past...year. My list of excuses could be a mile long, but I will say sorry and leave it at that.

Where to begin ? Let's start with a small recap of the past few years:

2019: Moved from Quebec to Minnesota. Elise started working as a Registered Nurse. David began his studies at Century College. We joined Emmanuel Covenant Church where Elise began serving on the worship team. Started building relationships with neighbors in our apartment building.

2020: Giovanni was born. Jean-Luc visited just before international borders closed due to Coronavirus. David was accepted to the Paramedic program. He was a full-time online student and a full-time father of two boys while Elise worked during the day (dad of the year award !). Elise accepted a position on a cardiac unit at Abbott Northwestern Hospital (yay for evening hours so she could be home during the day with the boys). Covid thwarted plans to spend the holidays with family in Switzerland. Enjoyed Christmas with the Boyum family.

2021: Elise continued working evening shift at Abbott. Jude enrolled in preschool at a local church and LOVED it. He experienced a lot of intellectual and spiritual growth through the investment of his lovely teachers, Mrs. Jolene and Mrs. Ruth. We hosted two wonderful young ladies from Switzerland, Noanne and Joy-Anne, who lived with us for a month and became part of the family. We loved helping them discover Minnesota, and we appreciated their help around the house and with our boys ! They quickly made their way into all of our hearts. David finished his program (including many clinical hours) in the Fall and passed his Paramedic licensing exam ! We moved out of our apartment into the Boyum household at the end of October. Shiloh James was born in November.

And that's a wrap.

It is bizarre to see those three years summed up in such small paragraphs. They felt like some of the craziest and busiest years of our lives ! I won't go into all of the details as to WHY, but suffice it to say that we are breathing a sign of relief that David's studies are behind us, and in light of the crazy chapter we are closing, the theme we have chosen for the upcoming season of our lives is "Balance" (and David would add "Stability").

We have seen the effects of an imbalance of spiritual investment, work and studies, family time (with kids and as a married couple), social life, and service, and we desire to prioritize each of those things more wisely and invest our time accordingly as we move into the next year.

And we feel that we have been blessed with just the right opportunity to reset, reassess and rediscover balance in our family.

Most of you are aware that we decided earlier this year to move to Switzerland, and we have officially purchased our plane tickets for the end of January 2022 ! We believe that this is the next step God has planned for our family and we are moving forward in faith, trusting that He will provide in the midst of an international move, leaving family behind in the US, traveling with a infant, transferring work licenses for David and Elise, living life fully in French again, etc. etc. We are excited for this new adventure while also feeling sad to leave Minnesota and our family/church/work here, and we anticipate encountering challenges as David and I both learn how to live and raise children in Switzerland (something David has not yet done).

In brief, we are experiencing a mix of emotions as we approach D-day.

However, in the midst of all of these emotions, we feel great excitement at the prospect of resetting and "starting over" with fewer belongings (we have downsized considerably due to limitations in what we can bring with us overseas), fewer commitments (an opportunity to choose wisely what we say "yes" and "no" to), and a fresh perspective on balance, work, family and faith.

We are grateful to be able to stay with my (Elise's) parents for these few months before we leave, which is allowing us the opportunity to spend extra time with them as we prepare for our departure. David and I have both felt strange at times, under the impression of not doing much (neither of us are working, we have a lot of time at home these days, and I at least find it challenging to accomplish anything with a newborn and two little boys to care for); we find ourselves believing that we are being unproductive.

I have had the realization this week, however, that rather than being frustrated by this inactivity, we are to be grateful for the opportunity to "rest" (newborn-style), be with family, and have space and time to prepare for our move without the added stress of work or studies on our shoulders.

And the reality is that we are preparing for an international move, we have a newborn baby, it is the holiday season, we are wrapping up a significant chapter of our lives - we are actually doing plenty of things - we just get to do them at a more reasonable pace than we would if either of us were also working.

Lord, give us hearts of gratitude and eyes to see the gift of space, time, and peace you are giving us.

We look forward to spending another Christmas with our American family before we launch into final preparations for our move. We have so many things to be thankful for from these past three years, and we pray that you are able to celebrate the graces and gifts of God in your own lives during this holiday season.

Prayer requests for our family include:

- That Shiloh's passport would arrive quickly !

- That Elise's visa would also arrive soon.

- For a meaningful holiday season with our family.

- For grace and wisdom as we continue downsizing and packing for our move

- For continued health (especially for Shiloh with all of the respiratory diseases around this time of year)

- That we would find physical rest

- That God would already be preparing our hearts and spirits for this upcoming transition and the new adventure we are jumping into

Blessings to you all and Merry Christmas !